March 9th, 2011 Issue

Kaya Henderson can command a room, as when she went with Gray on a series of town hall meet-and-greets that introduced her to the community. She came in out of her office hands outstretched to sit with me at one of those big long conference tables. This is a woman who doesn’t leave you much room not to like her. She’s direct, with an open, animated face that breaks easily into a smile or laughter. She is also a serious person, whose comfort zone is probably three-hour banter about policy.